DETROIT – There’s an ever growing concern in the Wings’ locker room that the theme for the season is not a good one.

The Wings were outshot for an eighth time in 12 games after Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.

“We spend too much time in our own zone,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We turn over too many pucks and here they come. If we play in the offensive zone then they’re not getting any shots.”

Detroit has given up an average of 32.4 shot per game.

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“When you look at our group and you talk to me night after night there’s no consistency in our play,” Babcock said. “It doesn’t look like we’re wearing on the other team and at the end of the night, I look at the shot clock and it says 40. Forty is way too many, 28 is way too many.

“We have a long way to go in that area,” Babcock continued. “We have to sort this out. We’re facing a little bit of adversity and we have to dig in.”

On Saturday it was the second period again that caused the Wings problems where the Rangers outshot the Wings, 16-8.

“The second period obviously disappoints me,” Babcock said. “When it gets to be a theme and this is a theme. The night we won in Colorado we got off to a great start, we gave the game back to them in the second period and we had to steal it back in the third. We can’t give it away in the second period, you’ve got to outplay the other team and we didn’t do that.”

The Wings have also had issues with turnovers registering 116 giveaways through 12 games.

“We’re getting skated and turning pucks over,” Babcock said. “If you don’t get through the neutral zone, you don’t make them turn around, you don’t spend time in their zone then you’re spending time in your zone. It’s just that simple.”

Only Toronto (166) and Winnipeg (126) have more giveaways this season.

“I don’t care how we get through it, we have to get through it each and every time,” Babcock said. “But if we’re stubborn and want to turn pucks over you’re going to put a lot of miles on your defense.”

“A lot of times we (have) the puck first and we put ourselves in trouble, didn’t make the right play, didn’t get the pucks deep, didn’t get it out of our zone and here they go again,” Niklas Kronwall said. “We (give) way too much space out there and that’s something we continually have to keep getting better at because right now we’re not good enough at it.”

Much of this has occurred over the Wings’ last four games where they’ve gone 0-2-2.

“We’ve got to get back on the winning track here, try to stay positive, just get back to the basics,” Kronwall said. “We’re a little bit too much all over the place and not getting the job done right now. So right now it’s just a matter of bearing down and getting back to the basics and start from scratch.

“It’s very disappointing, obviously,” Kronwall continued. “You play hockey to win games. Right now we’re not getting the job done. We have to be a lot more simple out there. Sometimes the best play might be off the glass and right now we’re trying to play ourselves out of each and every situation. It’s costing us a few goals right now.”

“Something has to be done about it,” Jimmy Howard said. “We’ve got to figure out a way in here to just go out there and compete for each other. It’s going to be the guys in here that get the job done. I think it’s just believing in each other and not trying to do too much out there. Let guys do their jobs.

“In today’s NHL, when one team’s pressing and the other team’s on their heels it’s tough to get over that funk,” Howard ended.

Send comments to chuck.pleiness@macombdaily.com and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com